Reading SoftwareThe Big Picture

To Read.
The dictionary defines the word simply as "to comprehend the meaning of something written." Most of us, however, recognize reading as the keystone to education, knowledge, and future success. That belief, combined with a never-ending stream of stories about the decline in students' reading ability, has spawned an incredible demand for educational software to fill the gap. Software publishers have been only to happy to meet that demand, producing more titles in the "learn to read" category than any other.

SuperKids' reviewers looked at five new titles this month, evaluating their content and design, as well as their kid appeal and ease of use. Which is best for your child? Read below for cameo descriptions, then click on the titles that interest you to see what our parent, teacher, and kid reviewers had to say.

Alphabet Express [for ages 3 to 6] from School Zone Interactive, is an introductory program designed to teach young children the letters of the alphabet, the sounds they make, and their sequence. This is an excellent program for a child beginning to (and interested in) learning letters and sounds

AlphaBonk Farm [for ages 4 to 8] from Headbone Interactive, is a wonderful example of applying a consistent theme to a simple subject. In this case, Headbone Interactive has used a farm and everything one might expect to find around a farm, as a frame of reference for learning the alphabet. Although not as focused on learning letters and sounds as Alphabet Express, this is a valuable reinforcement tool.

Interactive Reading Journey 2 [for ages 5 to 9] from The Learning Company, is a 'got-to-have-it' program for developing young readers. For a child who knows the alphabet and the sounds associated with each letter, and who can read simple words using a combination of decoding (or "sounding out") and sight recognition, this is the best learn-to-read program we have seen.

Kid Phonics 2 [for ages 6 to 9] from Davidson, offers a useful collection of phonics skill-building activities for young readers. Word construction, silent letters, homonyms, and phoneme recognition are all practiced in this program. SuperKids reviewers felt the difficulty level of some words required a parent's presence for the younger ages.

Word Munchers Deluxe [for ages 6 to 11] from MECC, is an effective program designed to build confidence in reading, grammar, and vocabulary skills, through a vast number of drills. It is appropriate for a broad range of students, ranging from those just becoming comfortable with reading, to those learning sentence structures at school.

Take a look at the ratings tables below, click on the titles of the software you are interested in to see the complete review, or click on "PC" or "Mac" in the Buyers Guide column to see current market prices in our Buyers Guide.

Can't find what you need? Check out a complete list of all current reviews of Reading Software.